Machine for folding paper or other fabrics.



PATENTED JAN. 31, 1905.

. B. H. OOTTRELL. MACHINE FOR FOLDING PAPER OR OTHER FABRICS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14. 1904, I

No. 781,270. PATENTED JAN. 31, 1905.

. E. H. COTTRELL.

MACHINE FOR FOLDINGPAPER OR OTHER FABRICS.

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E. H.- OOTTRELL'. MACHINE FOR FOLDING PAPER OR OTHER FABRICS.

APILIOATION FILED JUNE 14.1904.

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' No. 781,270. PATENTED' JAN. .31, 1905.

. E. H.00TTRELL.

MACHINE FOR FOLDING PAPER OR OTHER FABRICS.

' APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 14. 1904.

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UNITED STATES Patented January 31, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

EDGAR H. COTTRELL, OF STCNINGTON, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO C. B.COTTRELL & SONS COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. .Y., A COR- PORATION OF NEWJERSEY.

MACHINE FOR FOLDING PAPER OR OTHER FABRICS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 781,270, dated January.31 1905 Application filed June 14,1904. Serial No. 212,466.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDGAR H. CoTTRELL, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident of Stonington, in thecounty of New London and State of Connecticut, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Machines for Folding 1 Paper or other Fabrics, ofwhich the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to collect sheets from different sourcesand fold them together, and especially to collect a plurality of sheetsfrom one source and a sheetfrom another source and to fold them togetherin such manner that the last-mentioned sheet forms a cover or outsidesheet to the said plurality of sheets which form a signature.

The invention consists in certain means, hereinafter descrlbed andclalmed, whereby the collection and folding together of thev formthesignatures to the folding-point and for folding them, and I haverepresented the 1 cover sheet as supplied from a pile and brought to thesame point by a feeding device and carrier running. transversely to thesignature-sheet carrier of the patented machine above mentioned.

Figures 1 and 1* represent a plan; Fig. 2,

a an elevation taken at that end of the machine I which is at the righthand in- Fig. 1; Fig. 3',

a vertical section in the line 2 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a verticalsectioncorresponding with Fig. 2, showing the folding device, a table onwhich signature-sheets are presented for folding, and the carriers bywhich the signaturesheets and cover or outside sheets are brought to thefolding-point. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the stop-feed bar and itscontrollingcam.

The framing is denoted by 1. The shaft 2,

which operates the folding device 4 5 6 7, is driven from a shaft'3.This folding device is like that described in Letters Patent No.732,338. Its grippers are denoted by 5 and 6, and its blade is denotedby 7. The said folding device is operated from the shaft 2 by providingthe usual arms 8, pivoted at 9 n to the crank-disk l0, fixed to theshaft 2. It is to be understood that'these parts are operated in thesame manner and at predetermined intervals as fully set forth in theLetters Patent above referred, to.

The endless carrier for taking the signature-sheets to the foldingdevice is denoted by 11, and consists, as'described in the LettersPatent above referred to, of an endless rack 12, of well knownconstruction, furnished with grippers 13 and running in horizontal ways12" and arranged to convey groups of sheets at the proper intervalsalong a suitable sheet-support, such as a table 60, to the foldingdevice, where a cover-sheet has been fed in a direction transverse tothat of the said carrier by the mechanism which will be hereinafter setforth. It will be understood that the folding-blade and grippers arearranged parallel with the direction of the run of the said carrier.

The shaft 14 for operating the reciprocating blade of thecutting deviceof the foldingmachine is provided, as described in said Letters Patent,with a bevel-gear 15, which meshes with a pinion 16 on a short shaft 17,mounted in suitable bearings on the framing 1. This shaft 17 has abevel-gear connection 18.19 with one of the rollers, 20, of atape-carrier 21. which runs beneath the table 60 just near enoughthereto to allow a sheet 39 to pass under the table. The other roller,22, of this carrier 21 is mounted in proximity to the folding device.This carrier runs transversely to the signature-carrier. p

The roller 20 is providedwith a bevel-gear connection 23 24 with across-shaft 25.n1ounted on the framing 1, which cross-shaft also has abevel-gear connection 26 27 with the roller 28 of a tape-carrier 29,running in the same way as. 21 under the table. The carrier 29 alsopasses around a second roller, 30, mounted in proximity to the roller22, so as to leave a slot between the two rollers, through which thegrippers of the folding device are permitted to move to and fro upwardand downward. to coact with the blade thereof for folding the signaturesand conveying them at predetermined intervals to a packer or otherreceptacle. A slot 61, corresponding with the slot between the rollers22 30, is also provided in the table 60 for the passage through it ofthe folding-grippers. The two carriers 21 and 29, having theirsheet-supporting surfaces in one plane and running in the same directionat the same speed and both carrying the same sheets at the same time,may be considered as parts of one carrier.

The gear 19 of the tape-carrier roller 20 also intermeshes with abevel-gear 31 on a stud-shaft 32, mounted in suitable hearings on aframing 33, located adjacent to and at one side of the framing 1 of thefolding-machine. This stud-shaft 32 has a bevel-gear connection 34 35with a sheet-advancing roller 36,

which roller projects through a table 37 carried by the said framing 33and runs in the same direction as the tape-carriers. A table 38 forms asupport for a stack of separate sheets 39, which are to serve as outsideor cover sheets, to be combined with the groups of sheets by the foldingdevice 4 5 6 7.

For the purpose of stopping the sheets 39 in the proper position forfolding the said sheets along with the signature-sheets, a group ofwhich is indicated in Fig. 4 by a double-dotted line 62, stops 52 areprovided adjacent to the table 60. These stops are shown in Figs. 1 and3 and are represented in Fig. 4 as carried by a bar 63, secured to theframing 1.

A sheet-feeding device 40 of any Well-known and approved form is mountedon the framing 33 in position to feed the sheets 39 one by one onto thetable 37 1 have not shown the mechanism for operating the feedingdevice, other than the cam-shaft 41, as it forms no part of my presentinvention. It is also to be understood that the table 38, upon which thepile of cover-sheets rests, may be automatically raised as the piledecreases in any well-known and approved manner.

A stop-feed device is provided for permitting the feeding of the sheetsfrom the pile 39 to the folding device at the proper intervals, whichstop-feed device is controlled by a cam on the shaft 2 in the usualmanner. The rock-shaft of the stop-feed device is denoted by 42, itsroller-carrying arm by 43, and the roller by 44. The stop is denoted byand is carried by an arm 46 in position to be brought into and out ofthe path of the sheet as the shaft 42 is rocked. The shaft 42 isprovided with an arm 47, to which one end of a connecting-bar 48 isattached, the other end of which bar is provided with a stud or roller49, which engages, as shown in the detail view Fig. 5, the periphery ofa cam 50 on the shaft 2. The bar 48 is provided with a fork 51, whichembraces the shaft 2 for guiding the bar in its longitudinal movements.

In operation the movements of the several mechanisms are so timed that asheet is first fed from the pile 39 into engagement with the advancingroller 36. The stop 45 engages the head of the sheet until the propertime comes for feeding the sheet to the folding device. The stop 45 isthen withdrawn and the roller 44 brought into position to grip the sheetbetween it and the carrier-roller 19. This will cause the carrier 21 tofeed the sheet across the table to the folding device, the carrier 29receiving the front part of the sheet as it passes under the slot 61 inthe table and over the slot formed between the carrier-rollers 22 30.The sheet is thus fed until its head engages the stop 52. The carrier 1112 13 has been in the meantime operated to bring a group of sheets for asignature into position over the table and over and opposite to theseparate cover-sheet under the table. The grippers 5 6 then come upwardbetween the rollers 22 30 and through the slot in the table 60 andcrease both the cover-sheet and the group of signature-sheets togetherover the blade 7 and grip the crease thus formed, which includes all thesheets, and then in their descent they will produce the folding of allthe sheets together by a single operation.

While I have described this invention as applicable for the combinationof cover-sheets with groups of sheets forming signatures, it is to beunderstood that the lower sheets may not be simply cover-sheets, but maybe sheets used to enlarge the signatures on the outsides thereof.

What I claim as my invention is 1. In a folding-machine, the combinationof a sheet-support, a carrier for placing sheets upon said support, twocarriers running transversely to the one first mentioned for placingother sheets under said support, and a folder for folding together byone operation the sheets placed respectively above and below saidsupport.

2. In a folding-machine, the combination of a sheet-support, asheet-carrier for placing sheets on said support, a carrier running in adirection transverse to that of the firstnamed carrier for placingsheets under said support, and a folder arranged, parallel with the runof the first-named carrier for folding together by one operation thesheets placed respectively on and under said support.

3. In a folding-machine, the combination of a sheet-support, a carrierfor placing sheets on said support, two carriers running in a di-781,270 a V 3 v rection transverse to that first mentioned for myinvention I have signed my name, in presplacingsheets under saidsupport, and a folder ence of two witnesses, this 10th day of June,consisting of folding-grippers having a to- 1904.

and-fro motion between said two carriers and EDGAR H. COTTRELL. 5 afolding-blade arranged above all the car- Witnesses:

riers. FREDK. HAYNES,

In testimony thatI claim the foregoing as LIDA M; EsBEnT.

